A warmer audience.
A better cost story.
A solo-owned CTV audience test that turned a cross-channel hypothesis into a stronger LinkedIn cost narrative.
Borrow the learning. Test the assumption.
Situation
LinkedIn brought engaged B2B visitors to a Caterpillar campaign, but the cost story was hard to defend. I saw a chance to apply a Facebook learning: people who have watched a video may respond better to a follow-up link ad.
What I did
I designed, ran, analyzed, and wrote up the test solo. My hypothesis: LinkedIn’s then-new CTV beta could build a “warmer-than-cold” audience and improve sponsored-post performance for two personas. I defined success before launch: higher CTR, lower CPC, and more engaged web traffic.
Tools
- LinkedIn Campaign Manager
- CTV audience retargeting
- Web engagement analysis
A clear timeline. A useful comparison.
I launched CTV on April 14, added the CTV-viewer audience to sponsored-post targeting on May 13, and completed the test on June 30. I compared pre- and post-audience performance against the existing benchmark.
A stronger audience. A clearer cost case.
Result
CTR increased 68% and CPC decreased 24%, as reported in the test write-up. CTR moved from 0.69% to 1.16%, while CPC moved from $1.93 to $1.43. Engagement improved alongside the media metrics.
Engaged sessions per day increased 350%, and bounce rate moved from 50% to 43%. The starting CTR was already 77% above the 0.39% benchmark; the final CPC was 49% below the $2.82 benchmark.